Lament of the Aging Wiggle
a rant sung to the tune of "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer"

I feel foggy and loggy and creaky and grumpy
achy and painy, my body's all lumpy
I am in a rage
'cause I really feeling my age!

Pass me the old Bengay, dear
My muscles hurt and cause me pains
And here's another symptom
My knee is aching when it rains
I need to eat more fibre
and go out and exercise
As if it's gonna happen
Cause those are things that I despise

My shoulders ache, my hip is out
I just have to say
My vertebrae aren't in line
Chiropractor fix my spine!
I recall when life was easy
I didn't use Tylenol Three
But now that I'm aging badly
All those days are History

All those days are Hisssstoooooreeeee!
(repeat ad infinitum or until you forget what you came into the room for, whichever comes first)

Ain't technology WONDERFUL? I don’t recall that ever happening before the NFPA decided that we just had to have GFIs in kitchens and bathrooms.

BTW my kitchen GFIs are a bit flakey too.

The continuing saga of the GFIs.

Of course it just had to come on when he came by to check, but we did get some investigation done before I had to leave for a dinner party. The circuit breaker has all 6 GFIs on the one breaker. The master bath is the first on the line, we think. After checking all the plugs it looks like that one bathroom one is faulty. So, I bought a new one this evening and I have the diagram he left for hooking it up.

*Did I mention that I am deathly afraid of being caught in a fire or being electrocuted?*

So, because I had to leave, it wasn't replaced. I will have to do this myself or hire someone to come do it. I will have to give it a try.. turn off GFI breaker, undo wires (label wires first), remember that copper is hot/black and silver is white neutral.. (make sure diagram is in front of me) right... got it. I sometimes wonder why I have always thought owning my own home was better.

Dreams, for what it's worth, I too was deathly afraid of getting electrocuted. To the point where I was almost afraid to change a lamp socket when the lamp was unplugged! But I was planning on building my own house, and so took some 10-week classes at the Adult Ed Center in the town I was living in. By the third week of the "Home Wiring" class, my fears had completely vanished, and just left me really ticked off at the electricians who I had been paying $50+ an hour to do things that anyone with the ability to read the words 'black,' 'white,' and 'bare,' could easily do! After the 10-week class I had no difficulty at all completely wiring my house to well above recommended specs. In fact, every wall had two different 3-wire receptacles, each on a completely different line! Bathroom and kitchen each had two GFI circuits. I wired in the 220 for the air conditioner and dryer, and even added added a two-way switch so I could turn on or off the outside lights from either inside or outside. The wiring was the easiest, simplest part of building my house... once I learned to read black, white, and bare!

Nothing that scary to being electrocuted, must have happened to me at least 10-15 times and I'm not dead yet.
So yeah, I do all the electricity jobs around the house.
Lucky for me in the UK the live wire is red or brown and neutral is black or blue (earth is usually bi-colour) as if the neutral would be, say, green I would be in trouble as I'm a bit colour blind.
I can also plumb in the dishwasher and washing machine and repair the toilet flush mechanisms.
I'm allergic to paying money so I try to do as much as I can.

But I won't touch anything to do with gas, I'm afraid of that one, as gas explosions are not nice.

Nothing that scary to being electrocuted, must have happened to me at least 10-15 times and I'm not dead yet.
<snip>

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corkobo

But I won't touch anything to do with gas, I'm afraid of that one, as gas explosions are not nice.

Gas furnace rolls into the fire thing for me. I usually call the gas company if the pilot light goes out or if I think there is a problem. They come out for free. I feel better that the furnace is outside in the garage.

I usually do all the simple household repairs, but this one was a bit beyond me, especially when my eyes crossed trying to read the diagram tree online about the electrical lines. I think I will wait for a family member, who is more experienced in doing electrical wiring after doing his house, to have some time to drive in and help me. I can be patient about this one.

I can also plumb in the dishwasher and washing machine and repair the toilet flush mechanisms.

Wiring the house was the most enjoyable task, especially these days with the simple "push-in" connections already labeled. Three holes on one side going in, and three on the other coming out leading to the next one. Strip 1/4" and push in the correct color! As I was doing it before I put up the walls it took my wife and me less than a day to wire the whole house. Drilling the holes in the studs took the most time.

But doing the plumbing was the most fun! Copper pipes coming in and PVC going out. I even made the shower stall with two separate shower heads and controls. Showering together is easier that way...

Quote:

I'm allergic to paying money so I try to do as much as I can.

Oh, I love to spend money, but I love learning how to do new things even more! So I took classes in Home Wiring, Plumbing, and Basic Carpentry. The only parts of building the house that I found to be a chore was insulating and sheet rock taping. They were boring. And fortunately, the house was in a rural part of Vermont, and the building codes didn't require having a licensed tech do the work.

Quote:

But I won't touch anything to do with gas, I'm afraid of that one, as gas explosions are not nice.

They didn't even offer classes in that at my Adult Ed Center. Probably a wise move on their part...

I've caught a cold. I never catch colds. My physical therapy for my frozen shoulder, which may be an unstable shoulder instead, was exhausting yesterday. I'm not to sleep on that side for the next two weeks. Of course, I always sleep on that side.

I woke up at 4 a.m. with my KNEE killing me. Of all the body parts I worked on yesterday, the knee was not one of them. Then I started coughing and sneezing, so I just got up.

I've got a lot to do today, but I feel totally out of sorts. Glad I had a place to rant.

Just once, I would like to catch a cold or virus and not have it turn into a bout of bronchitis. When your doctor lets you call in for "the usual prescriptions" because the diagnosis is old hat, it's gone beyond amusing and well into ridiculous. *uses inhaler* I feel like that wheezing kid on "Malcolm in the Middle." Seriously, lungs, get a grip.

Just once, I would like to catch a cold or virus and not have it turn into a bout of bronchitis. When your doctor lets you call in for "the usual prescriptions" because the diagnosis is old hat, it's gone beyond amusing and well into ridiculous. *uses inhaler* I feel like that wheezing kid on "Malcolm in the Middle." Seriously, lungs, get a grip.

I feel better already, having ranted. ^_^

I had that same problem for years! Every single year for almost 30 years, when I'd catch a cold, it turned into bronchitis. Then I stopped smoking. Haven't had bronchitis since... 14 years, 5 months today!

I had that same problem for years! Every single year for almost 30 years, when I'd catch a cold, it turned into bronchitis. Then I stopped smoking. Haven't had bronchitis since... 14 years, 5 months today!

Wow! Good for you! I have heard horror stories about how hard it is to quit smoking, and seen multiple friends try and fail. I admire your perseverance!

Alas, my bizarre propensity for bronchitis cannot be explained by smoking, as I have never done so. I have joked in the past that my decade of teaching was the equivalent of being involved in biological warfare; I am now beginning to wonder if that may be closer to the truth than I want to admit.